The Evening Star MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1940. WATERFRONT ACTIVITIES.

Evening Star, Issue 23492, 5 February 1940, Page 6

The Evening Star MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1940. WATERFRONT ACTIVITIES.

Statb control of waterfront activities, with the object of ensuring efficiency and rapidity in handling cargoes and at the same time providing the best possible conditions for the men employed, is a measure that will find favour with all who realise the importance of the maximum effort being made by the Dominion in war time in coping with its sea-borne trade. In recent months there has not been so much evidence of the trouble which formerly gave rise to many complaints in the world of shipping and commerce concerning a system of loading and unloading that constituted a black mark against the New Zealand waterfronts. It is clear from the remarks of the Deputy Prime Minis-ter-(the Hon. P. Fraser), however, that room for improvement still exists. He has stated that the Government has decided to appoint a Waterside Emergency Control Commission, “ with power to deal with the unsatisfactory conditions that prevail at the present time.” At a more normal period these conditions could no doubt be remedied through the industrial arbitration machinery available in the country, and the resolve to speed up proper organisation of the work by means of direct State control may be regarded as a war-time emergency measure.

That the commission should have power to control the loading and unloading of ships, to secure more despatch in doing so, and to ensure on behalf of the men on the wharves a much desired continuity of employment, is very much in order at a stage in our history when the Empire is faced with momentous issues fraught with danger, and when the needs and wishes of the men who sail the seas must be considered in every way. Any repetition of the conditions which previously disorganised shipping and the operations of produc-

ing concerns must bo avoided at all costs. In March of last year, when a “ go-slow ” policy on the part of watcrsiders in the north resulted in the temporary dismissal of 500 men at Wellington, the Government showed that it was determined to deal effectively with actions which were making shipping operations on the New Zealand coast the most expensive in the world,, and which were retarding the regular flow of trade. Two years ago the situation was so serious that the executive of the Associa'ed Chambers of Commerce felt impelled to ask that the Government should set up a Royal Commission to investigate waterfront labour conditions throughout the Dominion, the Prime Minister promising that tho Government would at all times co-operate with shipowners and others concerned to ensure that the industry was carried on without interruption. The decision to have State control reads like film, if delayed, fulfilment of previous promises, and will be welcomed by all concerned.